Published: 3 August 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
ASHLEY BROWNE: Jess Fox leads the way after her canoe slalom victory, with 400m runner Steve Solomon ready to stride up the list
1. Jess Fox (canoe slalom)
It was fourth time lucky for Fox at Tokyo. After winning the silver medal in the K1 category at London in 2012 and bronze at Rio in 2016, she won the bronze medal once again in Tokyo earlier this week. She was on track to becoming one of Australia’s unluckiest Olympians.
But this time there a second opportunity for gold with the C1 category introduced for the first time. Fox was among those in the canoe slalom community pushing hard for its inclusion. Perhaps she knew something because she blitzed the field in the final at the Kasai course and her 105.04 time was three seconds faster than Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin.
An Olympic gold medal the number one sporting achievement in the world in our eyes and that vaults the 27-year-old from Penrith to the top of this list.
2. Julien Wiener (cricket)
It’s a toss-up between Wiener and Michael Klinger, but Wiener, who played six Tests and seven one-day internationals for Australia, gets the nod here. At the time Weiner played, the Test and one-day teams were the same, so earning national selection was even tougher.
He was a fine opening bat, who averaged 25.54 and was a bit stiff to be dropped after making an unbeaten 93 for Australia in his Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1980. The Victorian averaged 30.32 in first-class cricket and 45.72 in one-day matches.
3. Michael Klinger (cricket)
The wunderkind from Mount Scopus College enjoyed a 20-year career as a first-class cricketer for Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, Big Bash cricket for the Perth Strikers and played County Cricket for Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.
He was a run machine wherever he played and in particular, he shone as a T-20 batsman. He was generally regarded as poorly treated by the national selectors, but finally got his chance in 2017 when he played three T-20 games for Australia in a home series for Australia against Sri Lanka.
